Get Fit and Lose Weight in 08: How to Find a Diet Plan
I love exercise. Love it, love it, love it, but I've said it before and it is well worth repeating...
Losing fat is 80% what you put in your mouth and 20% exercise.
I don't care how hard you workout or how many hours a day you do it, if you don't get the food part right you aren't going to get the results you want. You need to find a diet plan that works FOR YOU: your lifestyle, your need for support, your workout habits, etc.
There are many programs out there and I'm only going to cover the ones that I think are even worth considering. I'll give a couple of my thoughts but you can use the links to go out and find more about the diet. You may or may not agree with me on these suggestions and that's OK. I'm just giving some alternatives because what works for one person might not work for the next.
#1 Weight Watchers: Yes ma'am! This is what got me where I am today. It is solid, teaches you portion control, has a program that incorporates clean eating called Core, and offers group support either through meetings or online. I think it's probably the hands down best way to start a diet and turn it into a lifestyle you can live with. The only drawback I have with WW is that if you are highly active or intend to be very active (especially with strength training) you need to learn how to work the points to where you are eating enough food. For 90% of the people who join WW it will work wonders if you follow the program. For a few people who do exercise programs like mine, you need to reach out for help on how to get your calories to a level that support your activity. Overall, I say go for it and get that weight off!
#2 Sparkpeople.com: This is an awesome free service that will track your food and exercise. They have tons of resources on their site for you to use from introductory exercise schedules to calorie recommendations. I use it to spot check my own calories a few times a week. The drawback here would be support. They do have message boards and stuff but many people I know have a hard time using their support services for motivation. It does take a little discipline to use this program solo, but overall it is great as a diet tracking tool. It's one of the best.
#3 The Eat Clean Diet: Wow...this is the eating style of choice. It's what I would call the Cadillac of ways to fuel your body. This book will teach you how to eat, what to eat, when to eat, and ways to use foods to enhance that physique. Eating clean combined with Sparkpeople's tracking is a dynmaic duo.
There are several other things you can check out that I would recommend like Precision Nutrition, The South Beach Diet, and Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle. Each are a little different and have benefits but they all are very particular about how you eat. PN and BFFM both also have specific guidelines on how you should exercise with their programs. I like them and practice a little bit from each of them.
In the end, to really do yourself justice with a diet it's important that you find something that you can live with and do. Don't pick something just because I said it worked or because Sally-Jo lost lots of weight. Look into the different diets and find one that flows with how you like to live and you'll find yourself making it a lifestyle and not just another diet.
And, just so you know, at PNP we eat a primarily clean diet to support our active lifestyles. I encourage my girls to fuel those bodies but make changes slowly so that they aren't overwhelmed. If you were to join up with us, you would be encouraged to eat in a way that works for you and that slowly changes your habits versus having a "I'm starting to eat everything right on Jan 1" type thinking. :)
Good luck and get Phit!